When Do You Brighten A Room?

When Do You Brighten A Room? - Curt Tueffert

It has been said that there are two kinds of people, those who brighten a room when they enter it, and those who brighten a room when they leave. The question is; “Which one are you?”

People bring things into the room, into a conversation, into a meeting, into a connection with our customers, vendors and fellow employees. Typically, they bring in an attitude. Attitude is usually the first thing that brightens a room on entering or exiting.

Have you ever been in a meeting where one of the attendees kills the flow with their facial expressions, body language or comments? They walk around like Tigger without his tail, like they just sucked on a lemon. There is a diagnosis for these types of people who brighten rooms when they leave; Emotionally Constipated! You know them; they roll their eyes at any and every positive message. Their sarcasm is cutting and hurtful beyond the light hearted words that are used for humor. The glass is always half empty. They have a world view of scarcity instead of abundance. They are quick with comments of what they cannot do instead of what they can do. If the diagnosis is emotional constipation what is cure? From this writer’s perspective, a good start is ATTITUDE.

Think about the meetings, the sales calls, the phone conversations with someone with a great attitude. It brightens the room when they enter the meeting, makes the sales call more engage, and builds a stronger connection on the phone. The best thing about attitudes is that they can change. The worst think about attitudes is that they can change. The good news is that we can have a powerful impact with the simple change of an attitude. The only person who can control your attitude is you. You get to make the decision; daily as to how you choose your attitude. You get to choose to brighten the room when you enter or when you leave.

One significant question is "Are You Passionate About Customer Service?" Are you? Since we are all in the customer service business, we have a choice. Are you passionate about it? Do you have an attitude that brightens a room when you discuss customer service, or are you so emotionally constipated that just the mention of customer service brings anger, resentment, bad experiences, and apathy? I have connected Customer Service and Attitude and tied it together to make this point; choose today to be the very best customer service advocate with the very best attitude regardless of the circumstances around you. Forget all the emotionally constipated people you meet. You are not responsible for their actions, only your actions and reaction to the situation.

Here is my secret to having a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) about almost anything. It comes from a speech by Lee Iacocca when Chrysler was in tough times. He addressed the crowd and made the comment “Yesterday ended last night.” Meaning – it really does not matter what happened in the past, today is a new day and a chance to brighten another room, to impact someone with a great, fresh, powerful, positive attitude.

Bring The Solution...Be The Solution

Every now and then, a simple phrase becomes the rally point for people. "Bring The Solution...Be the Solution" is not mine, I am borrowing it from a friend of mine, Rick Veillon. At a recent meeting of Sales Managers, this phrase really caught fire. I am here to further develop this idea into a few target areas


BTS...BTS In Sales: If you are in sales and are looking for a powerful approach to your career, thing about these (6) simple words; BRING The Solution...BE The Solution. In sales, you have to know your product or service inside and out. You have to commit to become an expert at your product and service so you can BRING that solution to prospects, customers, and clients. Stop bringing the same boring stuff all the other sales people bring... their empty selves, cliches, clever Marketing slogans... start bringing the SOLUTION. How? You have to know what your prospects, customers, and clients need, want, and desire. How? ASK! Ask questions. Build enought trust and rapport that they would want to listen to you. Then....BE the solution. You have to beleive enough in your talent, your skills, and your craft. If not, go out and get the skills. Learn the art of having a good conversation. Develop stronger people skills. Get organized... BECOME THE SOLUTION.


BTS...BTS In Management: If you manage people, your job is to BRING solutions to your team and to bring solutions to your upper management. If you are managing people, you need to BE the solution, the best manager you can be so you can assist your team in developing their potential, unlocking their skills to complete the tasks they are assigned. Remember, the opposite can also be true - Bring the PROBLEM...Be the PROBLEM. No need to further develop the difference between a problem and a solution. If you have read this far, you should have figured that out.


BTS...BTS In Relationships: My caveat there is that I am no expert in the art of relationship building. I am a student, I am open to learning more, and I have a lot further to go. To BRING the Solution in a relationship is to offer yourself, 100%, fully engaged. When you are responsible for yourself and your development, then you win others by attraction and not promotion. People want to be with you because your bring something...a gentle word, a kind spirit, encouragement, accountability, etc. BE the Solution is to further develop yourself to become bigger than you are in a good sense. Not egotistical or self centered, the more you concentrate on BE-ing...the more humble you become. Remember, we are Human BEINGS...not Human DOINGS....


In conclusion: 6 simple words, strung together in a series (BRING the Solution...BE the Solution) can be a start of a brand new day, philosophy, management style, selling style, or relationship. Start today and let me know how it goes. Curt - tueffert@aol.com